State makes delayed jobless payments

California employment officials announced Wednesday they will begin making backlogged unemployment payments this week to as many as 53,000 workers whose benefits have been delayed more than 10 days.

The state Employment Development Department is struggling with a new computer system, installed over Labor Day. “Late payments have been causing hardship across the state.”

Spokesman Kevin Callori said more than 80 percent of claims are being processed within a week. However, “There is a transition period that comes with an upgrade of any such large system. … We've had to convert several years of old claim data into the new system.”

Overall, state officials said they would authorize payments for 124,000 workers, including those recently certified, without checking final eligibility. “Such work will have to be completed later and at that time EDD will act to recover any resulting overpayments that might occur,” according to an EDD statement.

Since the new system has been bogged down, state workers have had to process payments manually. The staff has been working overtime, including on weekends, and the agency has brought in help from other departments.

Some overdue payments will be made in the next two days, with others taking “a little longer due to the need for additional manual processing. Our goal will be to liquidate this backlog for all but a very few of the most complex cases,” the agency said.